Florian stepped outside of the chamber. He almost gasped at the tase of the air. It had seemed more opressive in the hearing some how. But it was over... Over! And Andi was not going to Azkaban!

He was not exactly being set free on the streets either. He would have to spend some time in a psychiatric ward at St Mungo’s, being evaluated and such, then have to attend theripy after for a time but... that really was the best outcome possible!

Florian stepped away from the door, then leaned a hand against the wall. He was shaking a bit. It had all been very intense, and he had not had enough sleep leading up to this day. But Cecile’s statements about what she heard Sora say worked, and Anna as a character whitness... yes, it had all been good. He was very greatful to Anna... who had looked lovely as ever today. Prim and proper and not one to doubt.

Last he had seen her she had seemed quite certain she and Levi were about ready to break up... he wondered if she was single now...

But that was not really at the for front of his mind.

He looked back towards the chamber door. Would they allow Andi a moment to speak with them before taking him to Mungo’s? What would he even say to him? His last two conversations with his nephew had been... well... awful!!! First Andi drunkinly accuseing him of basically being the worst human imaginable. Literally. Even suggested he was a creep because he was dating Cecil... he then quit. And even the next day... sober... he basically stuck by his word, then revealed that not only had Florian never done anything to help him, but that he had done horrible things to protect Florian. Florian had left with Sora to work out how to kill Wesley... all that happened... and next thing Florian knew Cecil was banging on his door and telling him Andi had skipped off to the Brittish Ministry of Magic to confess to crimes he may or may not have comited!!

Life had been a living nightmare since then that was only just now ended. But he had no idea how to even speak to Andi at the moment... didn’t help that in her anger ver the veela blood incident Cecile had basically reinterated for Florian that he was the wost possible person and that even she saw exactly where Andi was coming from when it came to his opinions of Florian.

Ugh... he really hoped Anna was the next person out of the room. She had been the one person who understood him, and thanked him tearfully even for seeing to it that the monster Wesley was dead! Not to mention assuring Florian he had been far more of a positive than a negative influence in Andi’s life...

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For Anastasiya, this entire ordeal had been a stressful one. She knew she wasn't directly affected by it, but internally, she felt she had been. Andi had been like the child she imagined having in the future; bright, cheerful, full of life and energy. He was a little naive and clumsy at times, but he meant well, and for that, Ana cared for him dearly. She had to admit that sometimes she forgot he was in his early twenties now, and had been tempted to tell him off for drinking with the adults. Perhaps that was what helped to drive this situation; the idea of being a child and being treated differently from everyone else. Perhaps he was so desperate to be treated like an adult that he did what he thought more mature in the long run, without thinking of the entire situation first.

Or maybe it really was just some kind of manipulation this entire time. She didn't know, and likely never would. All that Ana could be thankful for now was that Andi would not be going to Azkaban, Marlowe was dead, and nobody else was severely injured in the time being. Of course, Ana knew that Florian would still struggle for some time, but she had seen the look of relief on his face when the result was announced. As Ana had imagined Andi as her son, Florian had done the same. It was strange; when the two of them were together, having children or even getting married wasn't something entirely warranted or guaranteed. And yet, despite her issues and his hesitation for having children, they had somehow fostered Andi as though he was a child of their own.

In this moment, Ana did feel like a mother, and she knew that Andi's own mother would feel everything tenfold. But that didn't take away from her own thoughts. It would have killed her inside to know that this innocent boy was getting punished for so much more than he could ever think of doing. She had kept that in mind whilst giving her statement, and had spoken honestly, positively of him, even as the prosecution attempted to up-heave her words. Ana had stood her ground, refusing to take the bait or get trapped in wizengemot accusations.

Finally, she exited the room, sighing a long breath, spotting Florian as she came out. She stepped over to him, not even speaking before wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so glad he's safe. This was the best outcome for all of us. Clearly someone up there knew he was innocent." She spoke before stepping back from him, giving a small smile. "I hope we get to see him before he's taken to St. Mungo's...how are you feeling after all this? Now that its finally over?"

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“Relief...” said Florian, stepping back from her with a tired smile. “Just full of relief. I really couldn’t habe asked for a better out come. But I do have concern over exactly how Andi is taking this all in. I have not spoken to him alone one on one. I don’t know what he truely believes about himself, Wesley, these delusions he has been having..”

If they even were. Cecile was positive Andi had been entirely innocent and had simply been manipulated by Sora. Florian was not so sure. He after all... had slipped Sora the note telling her to make the firm staement that the drugs had done this. To him it did not matter. Andi might as well have been innocent as it was Wesley’s fault but... he just wanted Andi to be at peace with himself. To be able to move on. To accept he had been druged into thinking these things, even if he hadn’t.

“I do have one more thing to ask of you,” he said quietly, “I don’t know that Andi will want to see me again... for a wile... even if he does if you could visit him from time to time. I am sure it would lift his spirits.”

Maybe he would see here there as well...

It was then that he caught sight of Levi Persky, further down the hall, talking to someone but glancing in their direction.

Florian could feel himself stiffen internally.

“You and Persky are still a couple I see...?” He tried to keep his tone nutral.

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Ana gave a small smile. "Of course, Florian. I'm sure he would want to see you, or at least, will want to see you soon. Especially after the amount of effort you put in to see him out of this well - and even if he doesn't, I would presume after appropriate treatment and a bit of therapy, he would see the right of your ways. I think in some aspects, this may give your relationship even more meaning and understanding. If he does decide t have a bit of time alone, I'll do my best for him in any way." She gave a little encouraging node.

Following his eyes, she glanced over her shoulder, seeing Levi. She gave a little smile to him before looking back to Florian, nodding.

"Yes...we decided to stay together. I think we have recently shown a lot more about our skeletons...er...perhaps not all on purpose." She spoke, thinking to how she came back to his lab to see him grinning wildly over a corpse. She unintentionally shuddered. Their conversation then had ended okay but since that moment, there was a little niggling voice at the back of her head. Who was Levi? He seemed so sweet and innocent, homely and quiet when she first met him. But the more she found out, she realised just how severe the situation was - treating criminals, helping to keep criminal activity uncovered, turning a blind eye to his employees murdering rivals, and then using the dead bodies to experiment on. Now that she put all of it together, perhaps he was not as mousy as she first thought.

She blinked, coming back to reality.

"Sorry I was just...thinking...uhm..." She cleared her throat. "And what about with you and Cecile? No hope of rekindling that?"

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Florian could not help but roll his eyes slightly at the mention of Cecil, saying quickly,

“None what so ever. After her initial blow up and break up with me there has not been even a hint of a wistful glance between us. We came together to help Andi but that is that. Even if she came to me and said she had a change of heart I don’t think I would be interested. In the end she showed herself to be incredibly imature and... suffice to say I am never going to date a much younger woman again.”

Suddenly there was a flash in his face, and looking over Florian saw a woman with a camera, stepping back to adjust her lense, and then they were being approached by a man in a tan trench coat and hat...

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“Miss Anastasiya Zherdeva?” said Kit, smaling at the woman in a frienly way, “Kit Harper, Daily Prophet, pleasure to meet you!” He added, taking her hand and giving in a quick shake.

Pen in hand then he said, “If I just might ask you a few questions regarding this case...” smiling even broader he said, “It’s a great chance to get your story, Andi’s story out to the public. The real story... mind if I ask you a few questions?”

Moving right along then he said, “Do you know anything of the nature of the alleged relationship Andi had with Wesley Marlowe?”

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Ana pressed her lips together, offering a small nod. "Perhaps it's for the best, right? It's all an experience and-"

She was soon cut off by the flash and another man's voice. She spun a little, seeing the face of Kit who soon took her hand to shake. She did it out of politeness, stuttering a little.

"O-oh, well I uhm..." She had never given an interview, despite having just stood as a witness. "I'm sure the court transcript will soon be released, and you will be able to see all the answers there." She gave a polite smile, glancing to Florian to see his expression. She wasn't entirely sure whether he wanted this more public or not to try and clear Andi's name. At the same tie, it may have been best to keep this quiet...she knew she would prefer it if it was her.

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Cecile caught the back end of the conversation, having heard it as she exited the room into the corridor. She stepped up to the group, offering barely a glance to Florian. It was so weird to see all of these plans play out right and get a good result. In fact, she wasn't entirely sure how to act around him now - were they even going to speak?

She cleared her throat.

"Er...hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there had been a lot of publicity on this case. From the public's perspective, they just witnessed a young man confess to murder and other crimes with evidence of being in cahoots with a known serial killer, and then get off with no prison time. I'm not telling any of you what to do but...I would advise showing continuous support even after the result."

She glanced at Kit. She had asked him to report positively for their case, and in return, he would get his headliner. To her, it was a fair trade, and a win-win for everyone. That, and she did genuinely believe it would help Andi.

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Florian might have objected at once, pulled Ana away, but... he was a bit thrown off in the moment by two things. One, was Cecile being at his elbow. Had she heard his last words to Ana about her? That had not been his intention. But the other..

Kit... Harper... he knew that name all too well. The man he had basically hand delived to a vampire to full fill a debt.

Well at least he looked alive and well!

Florian found himselfe glancing to the man’s neck, but he couldn’t see any scares with his colar and scarf in the way.

Looking back to Cecile then he said, “Ah, right... well if you think... it would be best... I suppose...”

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Seeing they were about to be left alone, Florian smiled in a friendly way at Cecil and said,

“Well... looks like we did it. You did it. I can finally sleep well after weeks of tossing and turning.”

He really was greatful to Cecil. She had done a lot! She had made this all possible. His words were unfortunately timed, but their failed relationship had nothing to do with this trial or Andi being freed.

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"Oh...uhm..." Ana gave another look to Florian, but seeing him agree, as tentatively as it was, she nodded and followed behind Kit to a more private are.

"Sorry, what was the question?" She started. "The nature of the apparent relationship between Andi and Marlowe, right? Well..."

She pursed her lips.

"Marlowe was a very invasive person, and Andi was very open. I suppose at first he wanted to be liked by this 'cool' and mysterious stranger. But I think eventually Marlowe took advantage of that and used it against him for his own purposes. I don't think Andi even realised what was happening...he never really saw everything what happened, or never picked up on the bad signs. He just wants to believe the best in everyone."

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"Yeah, some would say I'm okay for a much younger woman." She bit back, but she looked away, perhaps not actually wanting to take a dig. Her expression softened, even as she refused eye contact. "I'm glad it's over though. Especially for Andi's sake."

She was silent for a long few seconds before speaking again.

"I think this will be the last case I do here. It's a good time to step down...time to move on, I think. The Ministry will never trust me again, even after all this - too many secrets, too many friends on the inside." She glanced over her shoulder at Kit, pressing her lips together. He would want her to do the right thing. She finally, finally looked up at Florian, in the eyes.

"i'm not sorry about us breaking up...but I am about how I treated you. You was doing what you thought best for Andi and I shouldn't have criticised you for that. Be mad about the deals you made, sure. But made you feel that small and stupid...that was wrong."

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As she spoke he cringed inwardly. Clearly she had heard what he said. But when she finished Florian raised his brows in surprise. He had not expected that.

“Oh! Ah... thank you...” he answered, not sure what to say.

Think nothing of it? It’s water under the bridge? Nothing felt like the right response. He had definitly never expected an apology after so much time had passed!

After an awkward pause, and a glance towards Ana and Kit, Florian looked back at Cecil and said, “Well... at least... I suppose... we are parting well then... if you ever need anything in the future...” his voice driffted off. Florian cleared his throat, then said quickly, “But why leave the Ministry. Seems to me this shows how much good you can do here. If everyone who has a heart like yours leaves where does that leave the rest of us civilians?”

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"Because the ministry only cares if they can't be sued for their actions." She said bluntly. "The ministry didn't give a shit about Marlowe or my brother until they realised he was somewhat part of the magical community, and then suddenly they cared and it was too late. They've been like this for years. No matter how much I or anybody else yelled at them or told them, they didn't care because they believed it to be a muggle problem. And that's just it. They have become a business instead of a public service. They're not doing what they're doing for the safety and love of people - the hit-wizards and aurors may be - but those in charge just want things to be swept under the rug rather than brought o people's attention. They are so concerned over their image after He-Who-Shan't-Be-Named that they would rather keep things hushed and risk people blindly walking into their deaths."

She glanced over her shoulder at Kit again, seeing him speaking to Ana.

"He showed me that. It frustrates me to no end that he always wants a story...but in the same breath...he wants to yell the truth to everyone. I always thought that he valued the paper over me, maybe in some way he does but...I think it's more that he values the community. Who else would be stupid enough to get involved with vampires and werewolves and serial killers...apart from you."

She looked back at Florian, frowning.

"I'm leaving the ministry so I can do what we did without limitations. I am a hit-witch, and they have clipped my wings to the point of embarrassment, attempting to turn me back into an intern, trying to bend me to follow their ways of doing things - meanwhile, people are dying. I joined the ministry because I always wanted to take down bad guys and be a hero. And now I'm leaving to do just that. If you want to help me, you can find me somewhere discreet to stay."